Commission to consider repealing development grant

Published: Monday, November 18, 2013 at 5:45 p.m.

Last Modified: Monday, November 18, 2013 at 5:45 p.m.

The maker of a frozen fruit snack that once sought to bring more than 400 new jobs to the community has put its expansion plans on ice.

Tuesday, the County Commission will consider repealing a $255,000 economic development grant to CitraPac Inc., a Polk County-based food processor that previously sought nearly $2 million in state and local funding to relocate to Marion County.

CitraPac CEO Gregg Harshman said Monday the project had been delayed, but that the company was still committed to moving its manufacturing operations to Marion sometime next year. The postponement caused the company to voluntarily withdraw from its deal with the state and county, he said.

The county’s funding, approved in January 2012, boosted $1.02 million pledged by the state, which had approved the amount based on the number of jobs that were expected to be created.

The county further sweetened the deal with an additional $500,000 that would offset CitraPac’s expenses for rent, utilities, equipment and incentives to speed up the hiring of workers.

In exchange for the $1.8 million package, CitraPac was expected to hire 425 people, at an average salary of $32,000 a year, over five years.

CitraPac also planned to invest $32 million to refurbish the Marion site it selected and to install new equipment.

Harshman said the company intends to reapply for the grants once its plans are finalized next year.

The $500,000 grant has been appropriated and remains in effect, but has not been paid yet, county spokeswoman Barbra Hernandez said.

CitraPac makes a treat called Fruit Pearls, which are pellets of oranges and tangerines created when the citrus is frozen in liquid nitrogen. The small beads are then mixed into fruit purees, juices, yogurt and even chocolate. The snack is sold on a limited basis in supermarkets in Florida, Arizona, California, Colorado and Texas, as well as online.

In 2012, CitraPac had a deal pending with an unnamed national food company to introduce Fruit Pearls to other U.S. and overseas markets. That required the company to upgrade from its facility in Dundee, a small town in central Polk County. CitraPac was eyeing a move to a 130,000-square-foot section of a 700,000-square-foot Associated Grocers of Florida warehouse along Baseline Road from the Baseline Landfill.

County officials had anticipated that CitraPac would relocate before the end of 2012.

<p>The maker of a frozen fruit snack that once sought to bring more than 400 new jobs to the community has put its expansion plans on ice.</p><p>Tuesday, the County Commission will consider repealing a $255,000 economic development grant to CitraPac Inc., a Polk County-based food processor that previously sought nearly $2 million in state and local funding to relocate to Marion County.</p><p>CitraPac CEO Gregg Harshman said Monday the project had been delayed, but that the company was still committed to moving its manufacturing operations to Marion sometime next year. The postponement caused the company to voluntarily withdraw from its deal with the state and county, he said.</p><p>The county's funding, approved in January 2012, boosted $1.02 million pledged by the state, which had approved the amount based on the number of jobs that were expected to be created.</p><p>The county further sweetened the deal with an additional $500,000 that would offset CitraPac's expenses for rent, utilities, equipment and incentives to speed up the hiring of workers.</p><p>In exchange for the $1.8 million package, CitraPac was expected to hire 425 people, at an average salary of $32,000 a year, over five years.</p><p>CitraPac also planned to invest $32 million to refurbish the Marion site it selected and to install new equipment.</p><p>Harshman said the company intends to reapply for the grants once its plans are finalized next year.</p><p>The $500,000 grant has been appropriated and remains in effect, but has not been paid yet, county spokeswoman Barbra Hernandez said.</p><p>CitraPac makes a treat called Fruit Pearls, which are pellets of oranges and tangerines created when the citrus is frozen in liquid nitrogen. The small beads are then mixed into fruit purees, juices, yogurt and even chocolate. The snack is sold on a limited basis in supermarkets in Florida, Arizona, California, Colorado and Texas, as well as online.</p><p>In 2012, CitraPac had a deal pending with an unnamed national food company to introduce Fruit Pearls to other U.S. and overseas markets. That required the company to upgrade from its facility in Dundee, a small town in central Polk County. CitraPac was eyeing a move to a 130,000-square-foot section of a 700,000-square-foot Associated Grocers of Florida warehouse along Baseline Road from the Baseline Landfill.</p><p>County officials had anticipated that CitraPac would relocate before the end of 2012.</p>